Underwater production facility including base unit and production fluid handling unit



United States Patent [72] Inventor James R. Dozier Tulsa, Oklahoma [21]Applv No. 740,688 [22] Filed June 27, 1968 [45] Patented Oct. 27, 1970[73] Assignee Shell Oil Company New York, New York a corporation ofDelaware [54] UNDERWATER PRODUCTION FACILITY INCLUDING BASE UNIT ANDPRODUCTION FLUID I-IANDLING UNIT 17 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 166/5, 166/267 [51] Int. Cl ..E2Ib, 43/01, E21b 43/00 [50]Field ofSearch 166/.5, .6; 175/8. 9

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,111,692 11/1963 Cox 175/8X432 l 5 5| 66 51 r in 12 II a 86 ,4

3,261,398 7/1966 Haeber 166/.5 3,353,364 11/1967 Blanding et a1 166/.5X3,360,042 12/1967 Marion .i 166/.6 3,384,169 5/1968 Leonard 166/153,391,734- 7/1968 Townsend 166/.5 3,401,746 9/1968 Stevens et a1. 166/.5

Primary Examiner-Marvin A. Champion Assistant Examiner--Richard E.Favreau Attorneys-J. H. Mc Carthy and Thomas R. Lampe Patentgd ogt.27,1970 3,556,135-

Sheet 'g or 2 INVENTOR: J. a DOZIER' HIS ATTORNEY UNDERWATER PRODUCTIONFACILITY INCLUDING BASE UNIT AND PRODUCTION FLUID HANDLING UNIT Thisinvention relates to underwater oil gathering installations orproduction facilities of the type adapted to be positioned on the oceanfloor at an offshore location, and pertains more particularly to ananchored ocean floor oil manifold and separator station positionedunderwater for gathering production fluids from a plurality of offshorewells and conveying the oil and/or other phases of the production fluidto suitable production facilities located either offshore or on land.

To date, oil and gas wells have been drilled at offshore locations fromfixed platforms or from floating or submersible barges. At theconclusion of the well drilling operations, the well equipment and theChristmas tree attached to the top thereof extended above the surface ofthe water where it was surrounded by a platform which was fixedlysupported from the ocean floor. The production facility, includingequipment such as an oil and gas separator and metering and storagetanks, was sometimes mounted on the platform at the well and theproduction fluid from the well was run into these tanks. At other timescentralized production facilities for handling a number of wells wouldbe constructed on piles sunk in the ocean floor at a centrally locatedposition among the wells. Individual production flow lines would then berun from the individual wells to extend to the centralized productionfacility where the production fluid would be gathered, separated and/ortreated prior to transporting it to shore by means of tankers or througha pipeline.

While installations of the above-described types were satisfactory foroil fields located in shallow water, the same types of installations areimpossible to construct or may be constructed only at excessive cost fordeep water oil and gas fields. This is especially true where the oil andgas production fluid is coming from underwater wells, that is. wellswherein the wellhead facilities are positioned underwater or close tothe ocean floor.

In order to develop many of the Pacific Coast offshore oil fields, theuse of ocean floor production facilities is the only practical method.This is especially true for an oil field in 400 to 1,000 feet of water,where locating a fixed platform extending above the water surface withinproducing field limits capable of providing all necessary productionfacilities would be extremely expensive and entirely impractical in somecases. The use ofa floating production platform as an oil productionfacility has been suggested and designed. However, floating productionplatforms would be very expensive for only a few wells. Alternatively,semisubmerged production facilities which are anchored in a manner so asto be say 100 feet below the surface of the water have been suggestedbut this semisubmersible type of a production facility is quitedependent upon a multiplicity of lines from the facility to the oceanbottom. Also, a safe and reliable anchoring system is required. At thepresent state of the art these requirements to be met would require acostly and complex installation of the semisubmerged type.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore a primary object of the presentinvention to provide an oil gathering production installation which maybe economically constructed and positioned at an ocean floor locationfor handling the production fluid from a number of offshore wells.

In the majority of cases, it is desirable to separate gas, oil and watercomponents from produced well fluids prior to movement in pipelines, andit is mandatory prior to tanker or barge transportation. Thisautomatically dictates that fluid separating equipment be provided forproducing oil and gas wells, whether on land or offshore. At times,equipment is also needed to control the production of the wells and tomake well tests. It is therefore a further object of the presentinvention to provide an ocean floor production facility equipped withthe necessary apparatus for separating one or more phases of theproduction fluid prior to sending the oil to shore, or to tankers orbarges.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ocean floorgathering and manifolding station for receiving production fluid from aplurality of underwater wells and subsequently combining the oil andtransporting it to a distance storage or transportation facility.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an oceanfloor production facility wherein suitable separation and otherapparatus is contained within a selectively buoyant vessel adapted to beraised and lowered between the surface of a body of water and a basemember on the ocean floor so that the major equipment of the productionfacility is carried within the buoyant member and is available forrepair without the need to send divers down to the ocean floor.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an ocean floorproduction facility wherein the flow lines are provided with suitableconnectors and valves which may be operated from a remote position, sayfor example as from a vessel on the surface of the ocean, saidconnectors including disconnect coupling means associated with flowlines between underwater wells and the facility whereby a portion of thefacility may be raised to the surface of the water without disturbingthe well flow lines.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide anunderwater oil gathering installation which is positioned at a depthsufficient to eliminate the possibility of collision with surfacevessels and to eliminate the necessity of using costly navigationalaids.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an oceanfloor production facility adapted to be connected to a plurality ofunderwater wells and further adapted to be setviced and controlled, withregard to its installation or removal and with regard to the fluidhandling and treating operations carried on therein, by an underwatermanipulator device adapted to be lowered from a vessel at the surfaceand positioned in engagement with the ocean floor facility and movedthereon.

These and other objects have been attained in the present invention byproviding an underwater production facility including a base unit andproduction fluid handling unit. The base unit is mounted on the groundunder a body of water and is provided with one or more manifold lines towhich a plurality of flow lines from one or more underwater wells may beattached. The base unit further includes means for receiving theproduction fluid handling unit. The production fluid handling unitcontains various types of equipment. such as separator units, meteringtanks. etc., for carrying out desired operations with respect toproduced fluid and is of suitable construction whereby it may be placedinto or removed from operative engagement with the base unit. Forexample, buoyancy tanks incorporated in the production fluid handlingunit will permit it to float free of the base unit to the surface of thewater where it may be readily serviced, repaired, etc. An anchor linedisposed between the units may be taken up as by a winch on theproduction fluid handling unit to bring the units into operativeengagement on the ocean floor after the desird operations have beencarried out with respect to the production fluid handling unit at thewater surface. Conduit means are provided between the units when theyare in operative engagement upon the ocean floor. Disconnect couplingmeans are provided with respect to the conduits to allow readyengagement and disengagement therebetween. Finally, means is provided onthe facility to accommodate an underwater manipulator device so thatsuch device may assist in the carrying out of the various operations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING These and other objects of this inventionwill be understood from the following description taken with referenceto the drawing wherein:

FIG. I is a schematic view illustrating an oil gathering and manifoldinginstallation or production facility in accordance with the presentinvention anchored at an underwater location with flow lines running toone or more oil and/or gas wells while other lines run to shore or to amore centralized production facility and storage unit;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view schematically showing the floatable centralportion of the underwater production facility of the present inventionfloating above its underwater base while being anchored thereto by ananchor line;

FIG 3 is a longitudinal view in enlarged detail of an alternative formof anchoring and aligning means for use with the present productionfacility;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of still another form of aligning means usedby the present production facility;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view taken in partial longitudinal sectionillustrating another form of the production facility of the presentinvention with an underwater manipulator device adapted to be mounted onthe central removable portion or unit of the facility rather than on thesurrounding base unit.

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view illustrating one form of suitableconnector means for connecting pipe lines of the underwater productionfacility;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmental view taken in cross section schematically showingdrive means for rotating the removable central unit of the productionfacility relative to its base unit.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing of an alternative embodiment of theinvention.

Referring to FIG I of the drawing. the underwater oil and gas productionfacility of the present invention comprises two main units. As shown inFIG 2 of the drawing a base unit II is positioned on the ocean floor I2in the vlcinity ofa plurality of underwater wells (not shown). Restingon the base member is a buoyant production fluid handling unitrepresented generally by numeral 14. The centrally disposed productionfluid handling unit is ofa size to fit within the base unit II. Thefluid handling unit 14 is preferably provided with an anchor line I5extending downwardly to the base unit 11.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing. the base unit 11 may comprisea base plate I6 provided with upwardly extending pipe support meanswhich may he in the form ofa continuous circumferential wall I7 or inthe form of individual pipe support 18 as shown in FIG. 5. A secondcircumferential inner wall I9 is provided, the wall being of a diameterto contain a removable central fluid handling unit I4.

The main purpose of the inward upwardly extending wall I9 is to providesupport means for a track 21 adapted to receive and support thereon anunderwater manipulator device 22 which may be of the type shown anddescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 3.099.316. The manipulator device comprises abody member 23 having means such as wheels 24 for securing it to thetrack 21 The wheels 24 are preferably actuated by motor meansoperatively connected to the wheel and positioned either inside oroutside the body member 23. Additionally. the body member 23 is providedwith a pair of idler rollers 25 mounted on an outwardly extending frame26 so as to contact the outer surface of the upwardly extending innerwall I9, as shown in FIG. 1, when the drive wheels 24 arehung on track21. Alternatively, the rollers 25 may be powered to make frictioncontact with the outer surface of-the wall 19 to drive the manipulatordevice 22 around the underwater production facility. It is to beunderstood that the space 27 between the outer and inner walls 17 and19. respectively. is of a dimension sufficient to receive a manipulatordevice 22 and allow it to operate.

A portion of the manipulator device is arranged for upward extensionfrom the body member thereof and is preferably in the form of atelescopic arm 28 which s vertically extensible. Mounted on the top ofthe telescopic arm 28 is a laterally extending cylinder 30 having atelescoping arm 31 extendible outwardly therefrom. The lateral arm 31 isprovided with a rotatable wrench head 32 that is power operated bysuitable motor means (not shown) mounted in the arm 31 or in thecylinder 30, preferably in the rear portion thereof. A television camera33 (including suitable light means) is mounted on top of the manipulatordevice on a power-actuated swivel and tilting mechanism 34, while thetelevision viewing screen (not shown) is positioned on a vessel at thesurface of the water.

The manipulator device 22 may be suspended on a hook having aweight-supporting and power and control signal transmitting cable 35attached to its upper end. Thus, power and control signals for operatingthe manipulator device and its associated equipment are sent down thecable 35 from a vessel at the surface of the water while the televisionsignals are returned up the cable to the vessel. For moving themanipulator device 22 "laterally at the end of the cable 35 throughthe'water, the manipulator device may be provided with suitablepropulsion means such for example, as motor driven propellers (notshown) which are mounted outboard of the body member 23 in a mannerdescribed in US. Pat. No. 3,099,3l6.lnstead of .motors and propellers,fluid jets and pumps may be employed. At least a portion of the bodymember 23 may form a 'void chamber which may be selectively flooded bycontrols at the vessel for adjusting the buoyancy of the manipulatordevice 22. If additional buoyancy is desired, suitable buoyancy tanksmay be secured to the weight supporting cable 35, or to the manipulatorbody 23.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing, it is to be understood that theproduction facility of the present invention is positioned in an oilfield in the'vicinity ofa plurality of underwater wells whereby the flowline 36 from each well is run to the production facility and securedthereto in any manner well known to the art. as by means ofa pipe clamp37, for example. Alternatively. any known form of connector means suchas J- tubes and bending shoes may be used to secure the flow lines tothe facility. Each flow line is preferably provided with at least oneflow control valve 38 at the end near the production facility as well asa disconnect coupling 40 which is the size having an actuating stem 4]which is operable by the manipulator device 22. In a like manner. thevalve 38 is provided with a valve stem 42 which may be engaged andoperated by the wrench head 32 of the manipulator device 22. Thus, bydisconnecting the flow line 36 at the coupling 40, the flow line 36 canbe replaced or repaired.

The base unit II of the present production facility if preferablyprovided with one or more manifold lines 43 to which a plurality of flowlines 36 can be attached with the oil or production fluid from aplurality of wells being comingled prior to being run into theproduction fluid handling unit I4 through header pipe 44. Each of theheader pipes 44 is provided with a readily disconnectible coupling 45and a flow control valve 46 both being ofa design adapted to be actuatedby the manipulator device 22 or by other actuator means of any knowntype such as fixed by remotely controlled actuator mechanisms mounted onthe facility. Alternatively, the valves 46 could be check valves. In oneform of the present invention the pipe couplings 45 are arranged in astaggered pattern, as illustrated, so that all of the header pipes 44may be brought simultaneously into alignment at the couplings 45 as theproduction fluid handling unit 14 is moved vertically downwardly throughthe water and into the position shown on the base unit 11. v

The production fluid handling unit 14 may contain the manifold lines 43rather than having them placed on the base unit. In this case, each ofthe flow lines 36 (FIG. 5) would lead directly into the production fluidhandling unit 14 and be connected to the manifold lines (not shown)inside, which would be similar to the manifold lines 43 shown in FIG. 1.Fluid from the production fluid handling unit 14 would be dischargedtherefrom through one or more discharge lines 47 (FIG. 1) equipped with;suitable couplings 48 and valves 49. In the alternative formof theinvention shown in FIG. 5, production fluid handling unit 14 is providedwith a manipulator track 210 rather than mounting the manipulator trackon the base unit 11 as shown in FIG. I; In-anotheralternative'arrangement shown in FIG. 9, the manipulator device 22 isarranged to move on tracks 21b positioned on the floor of the base unit11.

The production'fluid handling unit 14 (FIG. 1) may contain various typesof equipment depending upon the operations desired to be carried out atthe underwater production facility. For example, the production fluidhandling unit 14 may be equipped with a surge tank 51, a gas separatortank 52, an oil and water separator 53 and a metering tank 54. Meteringdevices (not shown) may be suitably provided to measure percentages andamounts of each phase produced. Preferably, only gas is separated at theunderwater production facility with the combined production fluid of oiland water or just oil being transported either by pump pressure or wellpressure from the unit.

In the event that it is desired to have the production fluid handlingunit 14 a buoyant vessel, buoyancy tanks 55 and 56 of suitable capacitymay be employed. Preferably, these tanks 55 and 56 are selectivelyfloodable through valved ports 57 and 58. The air into the port 58 wouldbe provided by means of an air supply conduit 60 and a disconnectiblecoupling 61 whereby air could be pumped from shore to blow out the waterfrom the buoyancy tanks 55 and 56 when it was desired to refloat thecentrally disposed fluid handling unit 14. Alternatively, air could befurnished to the buoyancy tanks from a suitable service vessel (notshown) of either the flotable or submersible type. If desired, theproduction unit 14 may be provided with a central manway or shaft 62normally closed by a cover plate 63 to provide access into the vessel 14for workmen. For emergencies, the top of the central production unit 14may be provided with a landing base for seating the lower end of adiving chamber (not shown) in order to carry out emergency repairsunderwater.

The buoyant floating production fluid handling unit 14 illustrated inFIG. 2 could be sunk into place and centrally disposed within the baseunit 11 by selectively flooding the buoyancy tanks so that theproduction unit 14 sinks vertically into position. In this particulararrangement an. outwardly disposed flange or landing element 65 on theouter surface of the production unit 14 would seat on the upper surfaceof the inner supporting wall 17 As shown in FIG. 1, the supporting wall17 may be provided, preferably near the upper end thereof, with suitabledrive means which may be employed to rotate the production fluidhandling unit 14 within the base unit 11, as necessaryv Thus. in someinstallations, where it is not feasible to arrange the couplings 45 in astaggered pattern as illustrated in FIG I, or in any other staggeredpattern, it might be necessary to rotate the production unit 14 relativeto the base unit 11 so that the respective cooperating pipe couplingportions carried by each unit could be brought into axial alignment withone another. In FIG. 1, the drive means comprises at least one gear orfriction wheel 66 rotatable on a shaft 67. The gear or friction wheel 66would engage the lower surface of the landing flange 65 which may bealso provided with gear teeth. Thus, by repositioning the manipulatordevice 22 so that the wrench head 32 could engage the exposed end of thedrive shaft 67, the manipulator device 22 could rotate the drive meansso as to effect suitable limited rotation of the production unit 14within the base unit 11 so that the pipes would be brought into registerone with the other, In order to accomplish this it may be necessary toprovide second track 21a (FIG. 1) below the regular track so that themanipulator device 22 could hang at a lower level. As shown in FIG. 8,the wrench head 32 of the manipulator device 22 is adapted to beextended forwardly to engage the head 68 of the rotatable shaft 67 ofthe drive mechanism.

In FIG. 6 one form of a remotely actuatable pipe coupling is illustratedas comprising an extendible telescoping sleeve 70 provided with a rack71 which is engageable by a pinion gear 72 of the outer housing 73. Asshown in FIG. 7, the end of the pinion gear shaft is in the form of ahex head 74 of a size adapted to be engageable by the manipulator devicewrench head 32 (FIG. 8). Thus, upon rotation of the pinion gear 72 (FIG.6) the sleeve 70 is extended outwardly to pass over the seal against themale end 75 of the header pipe 44. At the same time, as shown in FIGS. 6and 7, the male end 75 of the header pipe 44 may have secured to itsouter surface, as by welding, suitable stop means which may be in theform of a pair of outwardly extending arms 76 and 77 which are welded toa base plate 78 which in turn is welded to the pipe 44. Thus, as thecoupling member 45 is rotated in a horizontal plane with the pipesection 44a, in response to the clockwise rotation of the productionunit 14 (FIG. 1) relative to the base unit 11, the coupling housing 73(FIG. 6) would contact the arms 76 and 77 bringing it into axialalignment with pipe 44. Thus, the sleeve could be readily extended overthe male end of the pipe 44 upon actuation of pinion gear 72 in themanner described above.

In originally installing the underwater production facility of thepresent invention at the ocean floor, the base unit, which may be ofsteel or cement, may be merely positioned upon the ocean floor by itsown weight. Preferably, however, some form of anchor means will beprovided to provide additional onbottom stability for the base unit. Inaddition, since it is desirable to attach the production fluid handlingunit 14 to the base member 11 by means of an anchor line or cable 15, itis desirable to have some place to store the cable when the productionunit is positioned in the base unit.

The preferred way of providing storage space for the anchor line 14 aswell as providing suitable anchorage for the base member 11 is to firstdrill a hole 80 (FIG. I) in the ocean floor in a manner well known tothe art, as by extending a drill pipe with a bit at the lower endthereof from a drilling vessel positioned at the surface of the water.After the hole has been drilled, the base unit 11, which is providedwith a downwardly extending tubular casing 81, may be slipped over thedrill pipe and lowered down through the water by suitable lowering linesas the drill pipe serves to guide the lower end of the casing 81 intothe hole 80 in the ocean floor 12. Alternatively, guide lines or cablesmay provide the guiding function for the base unit. Still anotherpossible approach would be to provide the unit with fluid jets orpropellers which would be remotely controlled from the surface of thewater and in conjunction with a television or other monitoring system beused to guide the unit into position. With the base unit 11 positionedon the ocean floor, cement may be pumped down through the drill pipe andout the lower end thereof into the bottom of the hole 80 where it may beforced up the annular space 82 between the outer surface of the casing81 and wall of the hole 80. If desired, the anchor line 15 may besecured to the lower end of the casing 81 along one side of the innerwall thereof prior to lowering the unit into the ocean floor.Alternatively, the cable may be later installed in the casing 81.

If the cable is of sufflcient length and is of the heavy linktype overat least a portion of the lower end thereof, as at 150, the weight ofthe cable itself will be sufficient to serve as an anchor to hold thebuoyant production unit 14 (FIG. 2) in place without fixedly securingthe lower end of the cable to the casing or cementing it into the hole.However, if desired, an anchor 83 may be provided at the lower end ofthe cable and cemented in the lower end of the casing 81 as illustratedin FIG. 1. Of course, any other alternative form of attachment means maybe used as desired. The bottom of the production unit 14 (FIG. 1) ispreferably provided with suitable aligning means, such for example as analigning cone 84 fixedly secured to and centrally disposed on the bottomof the unit 14. This aligning cone 84 is of a size to mate with theflared upper end 85 of the casing 81 which is fixedly secured as bywelding to the basemember 11. In one form of the invention the aligningcone 84 is provided with a vertical central passageway 86 therethroughof a size to pass cable 15. If desired, a seal element 87 may close theupper end of the passage 86. In this arrangement the upper end of thecable is wound around remotely actuatable hoist or winch 88 whereby theproduction fluid handling unit 14 may be pulled down into place withinthe base unit even though the production unit 14 remains buoyant. Inanother form the aligning cone 84 would be solid, as shown in FIG. 3,with the upper end of the cable 15 being secured thereto in a suitablemanner. In another arrangement the guiding and aligning cone may be ofnonround or rectangular cross section as shown with respect to aligningcone 84a in FIG. 4. With this type of aligning cone, the production unit14 and the pipes carried thereby would automatically be aligned with thecooperating pipes carried by the base unit 11 if the two units 11 and 14were restly aligned in a horizontal plane before bringing the two intoengagement; this would eliminate the necessity of having to rotate thecentrai production unit 14 relative to the base unit 11 as describedwith regard to FIG. 1.

While this invention has been described with particular reference topreferred embodiments thereof, it should be understood that theparticular forms disclosed have been selected to facilitate explanationof the invention rather than to limit the number of forms which it mayassume. For exam-.

ple, means other than. or in addition to. buoyancy tanks may be used toraise and lower the production fluid handling unit. Possible alternativemeans are chains or cables connected between the unit and a crane orwinch equipped vessel floating on the surface of the water. Rather thanincorporate a winch on the production fluid handling unit, suchmechanism could be incorporated on the base unit. Further, it should beunderstood that various modifications. alterations. and adaptations maybe applied to the specific forms described to meet the requirements ofpractice without in any manner departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

lclaim:

1. An underwater production for handling the production fluid receivedfrom individual flow lines from at least one underwater well. saidapparatus comprising:

a base unit positioned on the ocean floor in the vicinity of at leastone underwater well;

a plurality of flow lines each having one end secured to said base unitand adapted to have the other end secured to an underwater well;

a production fluid handling unit adapted to be lowered through a body ofwater and positioned in operative engageirient with said base unit;

manifold conduit means carried by one of said units in communicationwith a plurality of said well flow lines for handling the combinedproduction fluid therefrom:

at least one oil discharge conduit secured to said base unit and incommunication through said production fluid handling unit with saidmanifold conduit means.

an oil conduit extending from said production fluid handling unitadapted to communicate with said oil discharge conduit of said baseunit;

first remotely connectible coupling means connecting said oil flowconduit and said oil discharge conduit together;

second remotely connectible coupling means connecting said manifoldmeans in communication with said well flow lines; and

anchor means comprising tubular pile means adapted to be cemented in theocean floor carried by said base unit.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said manifold conduit means iscarried by said production fluid handling unit.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 including cooperating aligning means carriedby mating portions of said base unit and said production fluid handlingunit.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 including guide means extendible betweensaid base unit and said production fluid handling unit.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said guide means comprises cablemeans of a length to extend between said base unit on the ocean floorand the surface of said body of water.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said guide means includes winchmeans carried by said production fluid handling unit for containing saidcable means.

7. An underwater production facility for handling the production fluidreceived from individual flow lines from at least one underwater well,said apparatus comprising:

a base unit positioned on the ocean floor in the vicinity of at leastone underwater well;

a plurality of flow lines each having one end secured to said base unitand adapted to have the other end secured to an underwater well;

a production fluid handling unit adapted to be lowered through a body ofwater and positioned in operative engagement with said base unit;

manifold conduit means carried by one of said units in communicationwith a plurality of said weii flow lines for handling the combinedproduction fluid therefrom;

at least one oil discharge conduit secured to said base unit and incommunication through said production fluid handling unit with saidmanifold conduit means;

an oil conduit extending from said production fluid handling unitadapted to communicate with said oil discharge conduit of said baseunit;

first remotely connectible coupling means connecting said oil flowconduit and said oil discharge conduit together;

second remotely connectible coup-ling means connecting said manifoldmeans in communication with said well flow lines; and

said production fluid handling unit comprising a fluidtight vesselincluding buoyancy tanks of a capacity to float said vessel and valvedinlet and outiet fluid conduit for selectively flooding and emptyingsaid tanks and wherein manipulator base means is carried by one of saidunits and adapted to receive thereon an underwater manipulator device.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 including gas separator means carried bysaid vessel and conduit means in communication between said gasseparator means and said manifoid conduit means.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said production fluid handling unitis centrally positioned on said base unit and is surrounded by saidmanipulator base means.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said manipulator base meanscomprises track means.

11. The apparatus ofclaim 9 wherein said base unit includes firstcircumferential support means to which said well flow lines are secured.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 including second support meansconcentrically positioned within said first support means and spacedtherefrom for supporting said production fluid handling unit.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said manipulator base meansincludes track means mounted on the outer wall of said second verticalsupport means and wherein the space between said first and secondvertical support means is sufficient to permit movement of saidunderwater manipulator device therein.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 including drive means carried by said baseunit in engagement with said production fluid handling unit for rotatingsaid production fluid handling unit about a vertical axis.

15. An underwater production facility for handling the production fluidreceived from individual flow lines from at least one underwater well,said apparatus comprising:

A base unit positioned on the ocean floor in the vicinity of at leastone underwater well;

a pluraiity of flow lines each having one end secured to said base unitand adapted to have the other end secured to an underwater well;

a production fluid handling unit adapted to be lowered through a body ofwater and positioned in operative engagement with said base unit;

manifold conduit means carried by said base unit in communication with aplurality of said well flow lines for handiing the combined productionfluid therefrom;

at least one oil discharge conduit secured to said base unit and incommunication through said production fluid handling unit with saidmanifold conduit means;

an oil conduit extending from said production fluid handling unitadapted to communicate with said oil discharge conduit of said baseunit;

first remotely connectible coupling means connecting said oil flowconduit and said oil discharge conduit together; and

second remotely connectible coupling connecting said manifold means incommunication with said well flow lines.

16; An underwater production facility for handling fluid received fromindividual flow lines from at least one underwater well, said apparatuscomprising:

a base unit positioned on the ocean floor in the vicinity of at leastone underwater well;

a plurality of flow lines each having one end secured to said base unitand adapted to the other end secured to an underwater well;

a production fluid handling unit adapted to be lowered through a body ofwater and positioned in operative engagement with said base units;

manifold conduit means carried by one of said units communication with aplurality of said well flow lines for handling the combined productionfluid therefrom;

at least one oil discharge conduit secured to said base unit and incommunication through said production fluid handling unit with saidmanifold conduit means;

an oil conduit extending from said production fluid handling unitadapted to communicate with said oil discharge conduit of said baseunit;

first remotely connectible coupling means connecting said oil flowconduit and said oil discharge conduit together;

second remotely connectible coupling means connecting said manifoldmeans in communication with said well flow lines; and

manipulator base means carried by said base unit and adapted to receivethereon an underwater manipulator device.

17. An underwater production facility for handling the production fluidreceived from individual flow lines from at least one underwater well,said apparatus comprising:

a base unit positioned on the ocean floor in the vicinity of at leastone underwater well;

a plurality of flow lines each having one end secured to said base unitand adapted to have the other end secured to an underwater well;

a production fluid handling unit adapted to be lowered through a body ofwater and positioned in operative engagement with said base unit;

manifold conduit means carried by one of said units in communicationwith a plurality of said well flow lines for han dling the combinedproduction fluid therefrom;

at lease one oil discharge conduit secured to said base unit and incommunication through said production fluid handling unit with saidmanifold conduit means;

an oil conduit extending from said production fluid handling unitadapted to communicate with said oil discharge conduit of said baseunit;

first remotely connectible coupling means connecting said oil flowconduit and said oil discharge conduit together;

second remotely connectible coupling means connecting said manifoldmeans in communication with said well flow lines; and

manipulator base means carried by said production fluid handling unitand adapted to receive thereon an underwater manipulator device;

